Threshing



L. H. THOEN June 4, 1935.

THRESHING Filed Jan. 25, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet l June 4, 1935. H THOEN 2,003,523

THRESHING Filed Jan. 23, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet4 3 INVENTOR. L owel/ 7710er/ June 4, 1935.-v

VTHRESHIM Filed Jan. 23,` 1931 5 Sheets- Sheet 5 TTlRNEY's.

Patented June 4, 1935 UNITED STATES THRESHIN G Lowell H. Thoen, San Leandro, Calif., assignor to Caterpillar Tractor Co., San Leandro, Calif., a corporation of California Application January 23, 1931, Serial No. 510,716

8 Claims.

My invention relates to threshing machines and particularly to a threshing machine adapted to thresh beans. The objects of my invention are, irst,` to provide a threshing Inachine with primary and secondary threshers;

second, to provide a thresher comprising co-acting toothed cylinders. This application is for improvements in the machine disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 505,076, file December 27, 1930.

Fig. l is a left side elevation of a machine embodying the invention withparts broken away.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view online 3 3v of Fig.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6 6 of Fig.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 'l-'I of Fig.

Fig. 8 is a view taken on line 8--8 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 9 is a View taken on line 8-9 of Fig. 3.

The invention is shown embodied in a cornbined harvester thresher.v provided with the usual main frame I0, front steering wheels rear wheels I2, and a pick-up not shown. Themachine disclosed for purposes ofillustration is particularly adapted for handling beansbut it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this use. The cut vines are delivered from the pick-up toy feeder I3. The vines 3o are fed into a primary thresher comprising cylinder 20 and concavel 40 and discharged onto grate bars 59 which extend into separator ccm-j partment 90 to a secondary thresher comprising cylinders 60 and l0. The beans are received in A the cells of grain carrier 80 and are carried away and cleaned by well known processes and when finally cleaned are conveyed by elevator 95 to bin 95 from which they may be removed as desired by meansv of auger $31. The vines and pods are discharged at the tail 98.'

The various working parts of the machine are driven by auxiliary motor 'I4 although power may be taken directly from the tractor if desired. The machine is equipped with the usual I drawbar I5 for draft connection to a'tractor.

Feeder 'I3 comprises parallel chains ||v to which are fastened cross-bars Co-operating with feeder I3 is beater I8 which is -driven by a sprocket chain 'arranged as indicated by the dot-and-dash line I9 (Fig. 3) -to drive other parts, including vfeeder I3, and to be driven by cylinder B0. Chain I9 is tensioned by idler I9'. Cylinder 20 is mounted on shaft 2|,'the left end of which in Fig. 2 is supported in bearing 5 `22 bolted to sub-frame`23whichin turn is bolted at 24 to main frame I0. Sprocketl 25 is keyed to the left end of shaft 2| and drives sprocket 5| on shaftY 6| of `cylinder 60 through chain '50, which is tensioned by idler 39. The right end of shaft 2|A can be supported in the 5 saine manner as the left end andrprovided with pulley 25 for belt 26 which is driven by motor lli. However, under certain conditions of operation, it is desirable'to rotatecylinder 20r and the mechanism driven thereby at a lowerratelo of speed and for this purpose a combined reduction gear and shaft bearing unit |00 is substituted for the usual bearing 22. Unit |00 and bearing 22 are interchangeable and no additional attachments are necessary forthe use of unit 15 |00.

Unit |00 comprises casing 0| having cylindrical portionV 02 provided with inwardly extending annular Ilangev |03, the inner edge' of which defines a circular aperture |04. Collar 20 is fastened by screw |06 to shaft 2| and has a sleeve portion |07 ofless diameter'than aperture it, and a flange |08. Bearing |22 supports shaft 2| and sleeve |0'| in casing |02, flanges '|03 and iii-a0 serving to retain bearing |22fin place. 2`5` Gear N30 is keyed to shaft 2| and meshes with pinion H0 which has gear III integral therewith. Gear rmeshes with pinion ||2 which has sleeve H3 integral therewith, to which pulley 25 is secured by key II4.

'Y Casing l0! is provided with cover H5, theA casing and cover having apertured flanges for se-v curing bolts H6. Integral pinion 0 and gear il! are mounted on stub shaft the ends n of which are supported in bearings I I8, H9; re- 3'5"v ceived in aligned apertures in cover ||5 and casing i0| and retained by plates '|20 and |2I.

Bushings |23, I 24, each having one end flanged, are inserted into hollow sleeve ||3. The. sleeve y K and its bushings are held en .shaft 2| by screw 40 |25 and Washer |26. The inner surface of each bushing is provided with a spiral oil carrying groove as shown and the oil is admitted through an opening |21 in the flange of the inner bushing as shown in Fig. 6. Cover ||5 is apertured 45";

to permit sleeve |I3 to extend outwardlyfto receive pulley 25 and the aperture is provided with a seal |28 and cover |29 in which oil seepage can accumulate vand from whichit is conveyed away,

from belt 25 by drain pipe |30; The outer'end 50 of sleeve-I ISis threaded at |3| to receive threaded cap |32. The casing is supplied with lubricant through filler spout |33. l

Cylinder 20 comprises two end wheels 2'|fastened by keys 28 to-shaft 2| as shown in Fig. 2. 55`

i other block 56.

Bars 29 are secured by bolts 30 to Wheels 21, and are further positioned thereon by means of lugs 3| formed in the rim of each Wheel as shown in Fig. 3. Each bar 29 is apertured to receive teeth 32 which have tapered Shanks and which extend through reinforcing strips 33 to receive securing nuts 34. The teeth adjacent the Wheels 2l are reinforced by lugs 35 formed in the rim of each wheel as shown in Fig. 2. The vines are prevented from getting around the ends of the cylinder by guards 3l which are fastened to the side Walls 38 of the primary thresher compartment.

Clo-operating With cylinder teeth 32 are concave teeth 4I which are mounted in the foremost segmental plate 42 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The ends of plates 42 are inserted in arcuate slots 43 on the inner side of supporting arms 44 which are pivoted in sub-frame 23 at 45. The front end of each arm 44 is provided with a jaw 46 to receive crank pin 41 on crank 48. The cranks 48 are operated by square shaft 4,9 which extends through sub-frame 23 where it is provided with an operating crank not shown. By this means the'concave and its teeth 4| can be adjustedaboutvpivots 45 to position teeth 4| with respect lto cylinder 2|).

VThe Vrear wall of the primary thresher compartment is open torpermit discharge of the threshed beansrinto separator vcompartment 93. The rear end of` each arm 44 isprovided ywith parallel ridges 55 whichserve to prevent rotation of block 56 on pivot 45 relative to arm 44. Block 55 is slotted at 57 to receive the end of plate 58, the other `end of plate 58 being supported in the Plate 58 is channel-shaped in section as shown in Fig. 3 and the forward depending'web bears against the rear edge of the rear-most concave plate 42. The downwardly projecting webs are apertured to receive grate bars 59. These bars extend rearwardly into separator compartment 90 and upwardly toward cylinder 'I0 which is provided with teeth I|. It

will be noted in Fig. 3 that the grate is made up of alternately long and short bars 59, the long bars extending to the surface of cylinder "I0, the short ,bars being in line with teeth 'II which just clear the end of the bars as cylinder III rotates.

The threshed material is discharged onto grate bars 59 from which it is picked up by cylinder 'I0 and fed between cylinders 60 and 10 which are rotated so that their peripheral speeds are different. Cylinder SQ is mounted on shaft 6| which is supported in bearings 62 fastened to the framework of the machine. The right end of shaft 6| in Fig. 9 is provided with sprocket 63 to drive chain I9. Cylinder 6I) comprises end wheels 64. The rim of each wheel is octagonal as shown in Fig. 3 thereby providing flat surfaces for attaching the ends of bars 65 by bolts 66. Bars 65 are provided with teeth 61 which cooperate With teeth 'II in cylinder ',IU. Cylinder 10 comprises a cylindrical body 'I5 supported on discs 'IB the hubs of which are keyed to shaft I2 which isV supported in bearings in the side walls of compartment SII. One end of shaft 'I2 is provided withsprocket 'I4 for driving by chain I9. The cylindricalbody I5 of cylinder 10 is pierced to receive'teeth 'I I. Material is prevented from passing around the endvof cylinder 60 by guards68 which are fastened to the side walls of separator compartment 90.

V'Io prevent return of the material into the primary thresher compartment and to assist in the threshing operation,l a cylinder |49, having teeth I4I co-operating with teeth 32 of cylinder 20 is mounted on shaft |42 across the upper rear portion of the compartment. Shaft |42 is equipped with sprocket |44 to be driven by chain |43 from sprocket |45 on shaft 5I of cylinder 69. To prevent material from being carried back over cylinder 60, stationary blades I 53 are provided for stripping the material from teeth 6l. Blades |50 can be made from the teeth of a sickle bar. The inner ends are turned over `and apertured for securing by bolts |5| to plate |52, the rear edge of which is upturned to form a bafie |53. Plate |52 is secured to the side walls of separator 9D.

The threshed material is discharged from the secondary thresher onto the grain carrier 80, the beans lodging in cells 8| and the vines resting on the upper edge of slats 82 in the well known manner. The beans are then cleaned and deposited in the bin 93 and the vines and pods are discharged at 98.

I, therefore, claim as my invention:

l. In a threshing machine, a primary thresher comprising a pair of cooperating toothed cylinders, and a series of stationary teeth cooperating with one of said cylinders, a secondary thresher comprising a pair of cooperating toothed cylinders, and a series of stationary teeth cooperating with one of said cylinders, and means to rotate the cylinders in said primary Athresher in the same direction, and to rotate said cylinders in said secondary thresher in opposite directions.

2. In a threshing machine, a primary thresher including a rotatable cylinder, a secondary thresher adapted to receive material from said primary thresherv and including a cylinder rotatable in the same direction as said primary thresher cylinder, and a member rotatable in the direction of rotation of both said cylinders and cooperating with both said cylinders, to prevent return of threshed material over the primary thresher cylinder and to feed said material to the secondary thresher cylinder.

3.v In a threshing machine, a primary thresher including a rotatable cylinder, a secondary thresher adapted to receive material from said primary thresher and including a rotatable cylinder spaced from the primary thresher cylinder, a rotatable memberpositioned in the space between said cylinders, to prevent return of threshed material over the primary thresher cylinder and to feed said material to the secondary thresher cylinder, and means for rotating said cylinders and member all in the same direction. Y

4. In a threshing machine, a primary thresher, a grate extending from said primary thresher, a secondary thresher positioned adjacent an end of said grate, said secondary thresher comprising a plurality of rotatable toothed cylinders, one of which cylinders is rotatable in a direction and positioned to deliver material from said grate and Vto feed said material between it and another of said cylinders, and means cooperating with both of said threshers to prevent return of threshed material over the primary thresher and to feed said material to the secondary thresher.

5. In a threshing machine, a primary thresher including a rotatable toothed cylinder, a grate extending from said primary thresher, a secondarythresher positioned adjacent an end of said grate and including a rotatable toothed cylinder spaced from the primary thresher cylinder, said secondary thresher also includinga second toothed cylinderv rotatable in a direction opposite to that of lsaid -rst-,mentioned toothed cylinder oi said secondary thresher, said second toothed cylinder serving to remove material from said grate and to feed said material between it and said first-mentioned cylinder of said secondary thresher, a rotatable member positioned between said primary thresher cylinder and the firstmentioned cylinder of said secondary thresher to prevent return of threshed material over the primary thresher cylinder and to feed said material to the secondary thresher, and means for rotating the member, the primary thresher cylinder and the first-mentioned cylinder of said secondary thresher all in 'the same direction.

6. In a threshing machine, a primary thresher including a rotatable toothed cylinder, the teeth of said cylinder being substantially flat-sided threshing blades, a secondary thresher adapted to receive material from said primary thresher, said secondary thresher including oppositely rotatable cylinders having interengaging teeth, the teeth on one of said secondary thresher cylinders being Hat-sided threshing blades and the teeth on another of said secondary thresher cylinders being studs, and a rotatable cylinder having studs forming teeth adjacent the teeth of said primary thresher cylinder, and cooperating with both of said threshers to prevent return of material over the primary thresher cylinder and to feed said material to the secondary thresher.

7. In a threshing machine, a primary thresher including a rotatable toothed cylinder, a secondary thresher including a plurality of rotatable toothed cylinders, a rotatable toothed member cooperating with both of said threshers to prevent return of material over the primary thresher and to feed said material to the secondary thresher, and an interrelated driving connection for operating all of said cylinders at a constant speed relationship, said driving connection including means for rotating one of the cylinders of the secondary thresher, the primary thresher cylinder and the rotatable member all in the same direction and also for rotating another of said secondary thresher cylinders in an opposite direction.

8. In a threshing machine, a primary thresher including a rotatable toothed cylinder and a stationary toothed concave, a secondary thresher including a pair of toothed cylinders having interengaging teeth and rotatable in opposite directions, said secondary thresher being positioned to receive material from said primary thresher, a rotatable toothed member positioned between said threshers to prevent return of material over the primary thresher and to feed said material to the secondary thresher, and stationary members forming teeth cooperating with the teeth on one of the secondary thresher cylinders to prevent return of material over the secondary thresher.

LOWELL H. THOEN. 

